252 



CARNATION 



CARNATION 



The preparation of the soil for the benches in the 

 houses should be commenced the year before. If pos- 

 sible, select a piece of sod but other ground will an- 

 swergive it a good coat of stable manure and plow 

 under. In the spring, add more manure or any fertilizer 

 that the soil may mostly require, especially bone, wood- 

 ashes and lime, if not already in the soil, plow again, 

 and repeat the plowing two or three times during the 

 summer. As to the texture of the soil, a loam that con- 



375. Carnation, Little Gem. 

 A striped flower. 



tains some clay without making it too heavy, is prefer- 

 able. It requires a rich soil and, therefore, the prepara- 

 tion has to be commenced in time, so that ihe manures 

 become decomposed and well incorporated, ready for 

 assimilation. 



Light, roomy houses, with good ventilation, are re- 

 quired to insure a bountiful crop. Whether solid or 

 raised benches, especially for the latter, fresh soil is re- 

 quired every season. Good drainage and an even fill- 

 ing and packing of the soil insures an even, healthy 

 growth. Strong-growing varieties should be planted 

 12-15 inches each way, less strong ones closer ; any 

 crowding, when not diminishing the quantity of flowers 

 to the square foot, will certainly degrade the quality of 

 the same. Transplanting is an ordeal for the plants, 

 and has to be done with the greatest care and dispatch, 



especially as the ordeal is often aggravated by hot 

 weather during early transplanting. Points to be ob- 

 served are, in the first place, a careful lifting. When the 

 ground is sandy and loose, the ground may be shaken 

 off, but when hard and baked, so there is danger of 

 breaking the roots, it is better to leave a ball. In setting, 

 plants should be cleaned of all decaying leaves, and 

 buds removed. Place the plants in a natural position by 

 spreading the roots out over a little mound formed in. 

 the excavation made for the plant, and press the ground 

 on firmly. Any deeper planting than the plants have 

 stood in the fields invites stem-rot. W^ater well after 

 transplanting, after that more sparingly, as a too wet, 

 cloggy soil will retard root-formation. Other precau- 

 tions to facilitate the establishing of the plants are 

 shading of the house, and reduction of ventilation to a. 

 minimum. A moist, cool air, even if close, that other- 

 wise would be injurious, has to be employed to prevent, 

 a too strong enervating evaporation from the leaves in 

 other words, to prevent wilting. An occasional syring- 

 ing two or three times a day will give enough moisture 

 to the soil after the first watering, and keeps a moist 

 atmosphere. When plants showing signs of having 

 formed new roots become established, any of the pre- 

 cautions employed to gain this end become injurious. 

 The shading is to be gradually removed, ventilation in- 

 creased, syringing reduced, and a normal treatment of 

 growing plants assumed. House culture may be summed 

 up as follows : Average night temperature 55, day tem- 

 perature on cloudy days 60 to 65. When over 60, ven- 

 tilation should be given, and increased when necessary 

 to retain the desired point. Fresh air is a necessity; 

 and ventilators should be opened whenever it is practi- 

 cable to do so. All syringing is to be avoided and the 

 water applied to the soil below the plants. Water should 

 be given freely when needed, and care be taken to make 

 the wateringthorough,reachingthe bottom of the bench. 

 Glass roof should be kept clean, so the plants will de- 

 rive the benefit of every moment's sunshine. Cultivat- 

 ing the soil, with the exception of a mere scratching, is 

 of more injury than benefit, as it will destroy the white 

 roots coming near the surface in quest of food. 



The principles of support are to hold the body of the 

 plant off from the soil for a free circulation of air un- 

 derneath, and to support the flower stems in a way so 

 as not to impair the plant in its freedom of growth, and 

 leave free access to cut the blooms with any desired 

 length of stem. 



The Carnation is rather a heavy feeder, and quantity 

 and quality of blooms depend largely on the nourish- 

 ment supplied. The necessity for feeding depends on 

 the richness of the soil, and to avoid a disastrous over- 

 feeding, food has to be applied judiciously rather weak 

 and often than too strong at a time. Feeding can be 

 done with a mulch of well decomposed manure, or best, 

 with prepared liquid manure. If it can be arranged so 

 a part of the liquid manure could be given with each or 

 every other watering, best results will follow and danger 

 of overfeeding be avoided. In the preparation of liquid 

 manure, it is best to take fresh cow-manure as a base 

 and add any other ingredients desirable, as chicken 

 manure, bone meal, sulfate of potash ; but avoid any- 

 thing that contains lime, as lime will set free the valua- 

 ble ammonia. 



Summer culture under glass has been experimented 

 with in late years, but with no generally satisfactory re- 

 sults. The hot, close, greenhouse air is against it ; the 

 plants grow, as greenhouse plants do, soft and drawn, not 

 to be compared with the sturdy, short-jointed, hardier 

 outdoor growth, so productive of a good crop. Indoor- 

 grown plants lack the foundation gained in the field. 

 True, the plants will not have the set-back of a trans- 

 planting, but better results have to be shown before 

 this mode of summer culture will become general. 



Every year new varieties are produced and introduced, 

 superseding older ones. A list of the varieties grown 

 at present may be useless in three or four years, so we 

 mention only the best grown now. Among the whites, 

 Lizzie McGowan ( Fig. 372 ) has been a standby, but White 

 Cloud now stands as the best. Maceo is the best deep 

 red or maroon yet produced ; a very free and continu- 

 ous bloomer. In the scarlets, Jubilee (Fig. 373) wants 

 first place, but indications are that it will be superseded 



